Episode from visit to Japan
The Japanese version of Joy Division was released in July 1984. "Unknown Pleasures" and "Closer" were released at the same time, and I (Ohtaka Toshikazu) wrote the liner notes for "Closer" which began by saying "This album is the most important of the many albums that have not been released in Japan." The person who made this release possible was Honma Takao, the director of foreign music at Nippon Columbia.
Honma: When I heard "Temptation", I thought the feel of the beat was amazing. Without this song, I might not have worked with Joy Division, no matter how cult they were. When I heard "Temptation", I thought, I could work with this band for a long time. But when they first came to Japan in 1985, I was the only person in charge of foreign music. So I did everything by myself from cutting the masters to advertising, negotiating contracts and looking after them in Japan. And when New Order came to Japan for the first time, Durutti Column came just before, and their manager was Tony Wilson. So we decided to make a video of both shows, so Tony stayed in Japan, and New Order came, and they were there for about three weeks, so it was tough.
The live performance which took place amidst all this fuss, was harshly criticized in “Music Magazine” at the time. Bernard's vocals were unstable at the Shinjuku Koseinenkin Kaikan, to the point of being shocking, but their attention to detail in the sound was very characteristic of the band. They were very active at the time, playing a live show at Club D and recording at Nippon Columbia Studio.
Honma: Actually, their biggest concern was to go to YAMAHA. They went straight to the product development office. The band members couldn't go because they had rehearsals, but I went twice with Rob Gretton and two sound engineers. They had written a letter in advance requesting that they make a RAM with a certain sound. YAMAHA sent several RAMs the next day or the day after. At that time, you could connect instruments with MIDI, but you couldn't import sound data, and you couldn't do anything complicated, but I think it was great that they developed using YAMAHA’s DX as their base. Nowadays you can do that with a computer sequencer software, but back then there was nothing like that. They controlled the sounds of instruments with RAMs. They really valued the sounds. Rob's most important thing was the RAM cartridges for their instruments, which he kept in a plastic case. He would give them to engineers and others during live shows to put into the DX.
I wanted to interview them, but due to busy schedule and plans to recording, a formal interview was not possible at the time. However, I managed to ask them to talk to me during a break in the recording. So I visited Nippon Columbia studio at 9pm on May 7th. The recording was the prototype of what would become “State Of The Nation” which was released the following year.
Honma: They wanted to recording on Nippon Columbia's PCM. At the time, the only PCM multi-channel recorder was a MITSUBISHI’s one, and we had two of them in the studio, so we decided to try it. However, at that time, we were still recording analog, not computer-based, so it would have been better if we could process everything consistently, including the preparation, but it was difficult because it was not yet that time. The song itself had only the chords and melody, but Bernard improvised the lyrics after consulting with Peter. The lyrics were decided at the very end. They played the synth, recorded the rhythm as well as the live sound, recorded the rhythm and bass, and added the lyrics at the end. They recorded it at G Studio, and the rhythm was recorded well. They didn't want to record in a dead studio like the US West Coast, so they recorded Stephen's drums on the stairs. But we only had five days, couldn't record as they wanted. They decided to make the B-side "Shame Of The Nation" because of the bitter memories of that time.
It is true that they could not get the results they wanted with new equipment that they were not used to using and the uneasy situation of being in between tours. However, I also went to the studio and watched the situation for a while, and I could clearly see that the usual style was for Bernard to take the lead and proceed with things while consulting with Peter on a case-by-case basis. This was based on a kind of community spirit that had been created by Bernard and Peter, who had been friends since childhood, and Rob, who was practically a member, and was also a major characteristic of Factory.
Honma: The reason you couldn't interview the band members was because Rob was very guarded. He was equal to the band members. Gillian was there too, but Rob was essentially the fourth member. Later, Rob became the one of the owner of Factory, he was the overseas representative for Factory, and when I went to Manchester for the first time to negotiate a contract in 1984, he let me stay at his house. I was treated to his wife's home cooking. I was able to gain a certain degree of trust. Because I had worked with the Sex Pistols and PIL. He was a very kind person, so I was invited to his child's baptism and went to a party at the Hacienda, and it was a lot of fun. It wasn't easy back then, but as long as you gained trust, you could do a lot of things. I wasn't very motivated when it came to the Happy Mondays and Rave-like events that followed. I also went to the 10th anniversary festival of the Punk Movement which Factory organized the previous year. It was held at G-MEX, a large former station building that can hold about 30,000 people, and the headliner was New Order followed by The Smiths and of course A Certain Ratio was on it. It was interesting to see Mindbenders too. Speaking of which, 10CC's Strawberry Studio may have been the origin of Manchester's tradition. It was a rundown studio, but it seemed like they were really proud of it being local.
On their second visit to Japan (1987), they appeared on TV program “11PM” two days before the live show and performed "Bizarre Love Triangle". I thought they would do it on tape, but they said “We also do it with live music on the BBC, we only do it with live.” So they brought all their equipment with them except the front speakers. They even had a lighting operator with them, and it was a big fuss for just one song, three minutes. The TV staff said "Then please use the big studio next door" (laughs).
Honma: When I heard "Temptation", I thought the feel of the beat was amazing. Without this song, I might not have worked with Joy Division, no matter how cult they were. When I heard "Temptation", I thought, I could work with this band for a long time. But when they first came to Japan in 1985, I was the only person in charge of foreign music. So I did everything by myself from cutting the masters to advertising, negotiating contracts and looking after them in Japan. And when New Order came to Japan for the first time, Durutti Column came just before, and their manager was Tony Wilson. So we decided to make a video of both shows, so Tony stayed in Japan, and New Order came, and they were there for about three weeks, so it was tough.
The live performance which took place amidst all this fuss, was harshly criticized in “Music Magazine” at the time. Bernard's vocals were unstable at the Shinjuku Koseinenkin Kaikan, to the point of being shocking, but their attention to detail in the sound was very characteristic of the band. They were very active at the time, playing a live show at Club D and recording at Nippon Columbia Studio.
Honma: Actually, their biggest concern was to go to YAMAHA. They went straight to the product development office. The band members couldn't go because they had rehearsals, but I went twice with Rob Gretton and two sound engineers. They had written a letter in advance requesting that they make a RAM with a certain sound. YAMAHA sent several RAMs the next day or the day after. At that time, you could connect instruments with MIDI, but you couldn't import sound data, and you couldn't do anything complicated, but I think it was great that they developed using YAMAHA’s DX as their base. Nowadays you can do that with a computer sequencer software, but back then there was nothing like that. They controlled the sounds of instruments with RAMs. They really valued the sounds. Rob's most important thing was the RAM cartridges for their instruments, which he kept in a plastic case. He would give them to engineers and others during live shows to put into the DX.
I wanted to interview them, but due to busy schedule and plans to recording, a formal interview was not possible at the time. However, I managed to ask them to talk to me during a break in the recording. So I visited Nippon Columbia studio at 9pm on May 7th. The recording was the prototype of what would become “State Of The Nation” which was released the following year.
Honma: They wanted to recording on Nippon Columbia's PCM. At the time, the only PCM multi-channel recorder was a MITSUBISHI’s one, and we had two of them in the studio, so we decided to try it. However, at that time, we were still recording analog, not computer-based, so it would have been better if we could process everything consistently, including the preparation, but it was difficult because it was not yet that time. The song itself had only the chords and melody, but Bernard improvised the lyrics after consulting with Peter. The lyrics were decided at the very end. They played the synth, recorded the rhythm as well as the live sound, recorded the rhythm and bass, and added the lyrics at the end. They recorded it at G Studio, and the rhythm was recorded well. They didn't want to record in a dead studio like the US West Coast, so they recorded Stephen's drums on the stairs. But we only had five days, couldn't record as they wanted. They decided to make the B-side "Shame Of The Nation" because of the bitter memories of that time.
It is true that they could not get the results they wanted with new equipment that they were not used to using and the uneasy situation of being in between tours. However, I also went to the studio and watched the situation for a while, and I could clearly see that the usual style was for Bernard to take the lead and proceed with things while consulting with Peter on a case-by-case basis. This was based on a kind of community spirit that had been created by Bernard and Peter, who had been friends since childhood, and Rob, who was practically a member, and was also a major characteristic of Factory.
Honma: The reason you couldn't interview the band members was because Rob was very guarded. He was equal to the band members. Gillian was there too, but Rob was essentially the fourth member. Later, Rob became the one of the owner of Factory, he was the overseas representative for Factory, and when I went to Manchester for the first time to negotiate a contract in 1984, he let me stay at his house. I was treated to his wife's home cooking. I was able to gain a certain degree of trust. Because I had worked with the Sex Pistols and PIL. He was a very kind person, so I was invited to his child's baptism and went to a party at the Hacienda, and it was a lot of fun. It wasn't easy back then, but as long as you gained trust, you could do a lot of things. I wasn't very motivated when it came to the Happy Mondays and Rave-like events that followed. I also went to the 10th anniversary festival of the Punk Movement which Factory organized the previous year. It was held at G-MEX, a large former station building that can hold about 30,000 people, and the headliner was New Order followed by The Smiths and of course A Certain Ratio was on it. It was interesting to see Mindbenders too. Speaking of which, 10CC's Strawberry Studio may have been the origin of Manchester's tradition. It was a rundown studio, but it seemed like they were really proud of it being local.
On their second visit to Japan (1987), they appeared on TV program “11PM” two days before the live show and performed "Bizarre Love Triangle". I thought they would do it on tape, but they said “We also do it with live music on the BBC, we only do it with live.” So they brought all their equipment with them except the front speakers. They even had a lighting operator with them, and it was a big fuss for just one song, three minutes. The TV staff said "Then please use the big studio next door" (laughs).
When “Technique” was a big seller in 1989, three bands I was in charge of (Sugarcubes, PIL, New Order) appeared at the New Music Seminar in New York, and I have fond memories of going around to about five venues with Peter and drinking until the morning. I've been away from those scenes for a while so I don't know much about what happened after that, but it's not surprising that they've been reevaluated 20 years later, and listening to “Waiting for the Sirens' Call” makes it clear that they're not just some old guys doing well, but that they're being accepted in a different way.
(25/4/2005)
Translated by Google
